Trui Malten

Trui Malten is an internationally experienced lighting designer working across theatre, opera, dance, and performance. Since 1993, she has created lighting for productions throughout the UK, Europe, and the United States, developing a body of work known for its theatrical sensitivity, visual precision, and strong collaborative spirit. Based in Florence, Italy, she works internationally and will travel.

In 2026, Malten was nominated for the Profile Award for her lighting design for Imeneo, directed by Guido Martin-Brandis for the Cambridge Handel Opera Company under the musical direction of Julian Perkins. Her recent opera work includes Jane Eyre by John Joubert at London’s Arcola Theatre; Eugene Onegin with Hampstead Garden Opera, winner of two Off West End (“Offie”) Awards in 2025; The Cunning Little Vixen, also with HGO and winner of an Offie 2023; Bluebeard’s Castle at Grimeborn Opera Festival; Tamerlano for CHOC in Cambridge; Carmen for CUOS; and Queen of Spades at Palau de les Arts in Valencia, as associate to legendary lighting designer Jennifer Tipton. Her work has also included collaborations with choreographer Sasha Waltz in Łódź, Poland, and productions in Italy including Il Matrimonio Segreto and Euthalia.

Malten has maintained a long-standing collaboration with New International Encounter (NIE), designing lighting for productions including Hansel and Gretel, The Snow Queen, Snow White, I Will Be Everything, and Beauty and the Beast. NIE’s Snow White and Beauty and the Beast were presented at the New Victory Theater on 42nd Street in New York. In 2022 she lit A Grand Soft Day, a collaboration between NIE director Alex Byrne and Marc Mac Lochlainn of Branar Téatar in Ireland, which toured successfully throughout Ireland and the UK.

Alongside her lighting practice, Malten frequently designs sets and visual environments for performance. Recent projects include Tatlin’s Tower at the Sainsbury Centre in Norwich, staged beneath the museum’s model of Tatlin’s monument, as well as Angels in America, both directed by Karen Kirkham. She also designed sets and lighting for Another Goodbye, written and performed by Adie Mueller, and co-created My Heart, My Heart – Live Poetry Jukebox, a touring poetry performance project presented across the UK over five years.

Over the course of her career, Malten has assisted on productions and international transfers to London, Naples, Valencia, Tokyo, and Vienna, collaborating with renowned lighting designers including Jennifer Tipton, Chris Akerlind, David Finn, Steve Strawbridge, and Christophe Forey. Most recently, she assisted Jennifer Tipton on the West End production of To Kill a Mockingbird at the Gielgud Theatre in London, and previously worked with Christophe Forey on the European tour of Norma starring Cecilia Bartoli.

Trui Malten studied lighting design with Jennifer Tipton and set design with Ming Cho Lee at the Yale School of Drama.

She speaks fluent English, Dutch, Italian and German.